The QC Center for Teaching and Learning has prepared a quick guide to teaching contingency plans. In the event of an emergency such as a widespread quarantine or the decision to shut down CUNY campuses to contain the spread of COVID-19, students will face disruption to their personal and academic lives. As such, faculty must make every effort to continue instruction and do so with a sense of flexibility and understanding. The Center for Teaching and Learning recommends preparing back-up or contingency plans now. They can be included in your syllabus as “Contingency plan I, II, and III” etc, and can be as simple as pushing back an assignment due date or replacing face-to-face class meetings with asynchronous activities such as online discussions or, in some circumstances, video conferencing.
The QC CTL is also offering workshops (with in-person and remote options) on remote teaching in Google Classroom and Blackboard.
Remote Teaching Resources for Business Continuity
A crowd-sourced spreadsheet of continuity plans and resources from over 100 different institutions.
If you are creating a plan for remote instruction, be sure your plan is accessible to all your students! At the most basic level, this means:
Learn more about planning for accessibility in this handy list of tips from Aimi Hamraie, assistant professor of Medicine, Health, and Society and American Studiest at Vanderbilt University.
Further accessibility resources from the Office of Special Services:
A helpful resource is Reasonable Accommodations: A Faculty Guide to Teaching Students with Disabilities:
http://cats.cuny.edu/reasonableaccommodations/index.html.
Other resources for faculty are available on the CUNY IT Accessibility page: https://www.cuny.edu/accessibility/faculty
The SPS Office of Faculty Development and Instructional Technology (OFDIT) accessibility and universal design in learning site on the CUNY Academic Commons also has some excellent information for faculty, especially useful in the Blackboard environment:
https://spsfaculty.commons.gc.cuny.edu/accessibility
The following links will help inform professors how to make their courses accessible for students with disabilities during the movement to distance learning:
http://bit.ly/2x6ghgY
http://bit.ly/2WogDdw
https://keepteaching.qc.cuny.edu
If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to contact our office regarding reasonable accommodations at qc.spsv@qc.cuny.edu.
Our Reserve Collection has required readings, videos, and other course materials assigned by Queens College faculty. These collections can be accessed using your valid QCard ID and may be requested by the CUNY Catalog Call number from the Library’s 3rd Floor Borrowing Desk.